From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Nora - Wood stood in the center of the gallery, looking around, re-examining her work —

So, she misjudged, right?

Apart from the opening night of the exhibition being crowded with guests, the gallery had no more heat, with few visitors, let alone transactions.

Was this due to poor publicity, a positioning error, or the exhibition itself lacking appeal?

Failure is not scary; what is scary is experiencing failure but still not learning from it, and then continuing to fail when facing challenges next time.

Moreover, it's not a complete failure yet; the exhibition still has a week left.

There is still time.

So, Nora came to the gallery today to re-examine her work —

Starting from positioning, completely overturning and re-conceiving.

There are many intricacies to exhibitions, including layout, lighting, arrangement, etc. The entire exhibition is an immersive experience, allowing visitors to feel the power of art.

The most typical example is the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, a very small museum, whose most famous work is Claude Monet's "Water Lilies."

The entire exhibition hall is arc-shaped, and "Water Lilies" unfolds slowly like a scroll in the exhibition hall, occupying three-quarters of the wall space, eventually forming an effect where "no matter where you stand, you are surrounded by the painting," "changing different angles allows you to appreciate different styles of the painting," and "being in it is like entering the painting," perfectly showcasing the charm of this masterpiece and earning the exhibition hall the reputation of "the Sistine Chapel of Impressionist painting."

Now, Nora is re-examining her arrangement of the works.

Walking slowly, from the outside in, Nora completely enters work mode.

Rustle, rustle —

Accurately speaking, this is also one of the reasons why Nora chose to hold the exhibition in the East Village. She hopes to spark discussion and encourage young artists to bravely speak out their thoughts, as the diversity of voices is the weapon to promote art.

So, Nora continued her work of reviewing.

However, the rustling sound outside became more and more obvious, faintly uncontrollable.

Could it be that someone is making trouble?

Nora remained calm, not rushing out anxiously, but the gallery staff were not so calm, rushing over in a hurry.

"Nora."

They called out in a low voice.

Nora looked over.

"You might need to come out and take a look."

Nora, "What's the situation?"

"Anyway, come out and take a look." After saying that, without waiting for Nora's response, they turned around and ran out.

Nora stood in place, took a deep breath, still controlling her emotions, turned around and walked out.

Turning a corner, from the back hall to the front hall, Nora saw that figure —

Tall and thin, slender and upright, a light outfit of a hoodie and jeans, a backpack hanging carelessly on his left shoulder, standing in front of a painting at the entrance, carefully examining it.

Without any special action, just standing there naturally caught the eye.

One person, there was only one person in the gallery's front hall, no young artists coming to challenge, no picky hip-hop rappers, just a solitary person.

The gallery's three staff members, like groundhogs, gathered together in a noisy huddle, using all their strength but still unable to suppress their excitement, and those rustling sounds were what they were making.

In addition, there were people at the gallery door.

Through the transparent glass, you could see two young girls clinging tightly to the glass, motionless, eavesdropping on the movements inside the gallery, the excitement on their cheeks and in their body language stirring up the dull weather outside.

At some point, the sky cleared up slightly.

A ray of golden sunlight broke through the dark clouds, penetrated the blockade of tall buildings and fell down, the world was still gloomy, but that small cluster of light seemed particularly bright, instantly brightening the street outside the gallery.

The halo, slowly permeated into the gallery.

Quiet but noisy.

Nora was stunned for a moment, caught off guard, completely unprepared, "Anson?"

The man turned around, the curve of his mouth rising towards those clear eyes, shifting the bustling gaze to his deep eyes, the whole world instantly brightened, so that the noise was all extinguished.

"Hey, dear Nora."

The man opened his arms and gave Nora a warm hug.

Hiss.

The entire gallery fell into a daze, unable to believe their eyes —

What did they see? What's going on? What's this explosive news?

Nora had no time to pay attention to these gazes, warmly gave Anson a hug, "When did you come back? Why didn't you go straight home?"

Anson chuckled, "I went home, but I don't have a key."

Nora was half a beat late to remember, "Oh, Judy went to Boston for a week, I completely forgot about it."

Anson spread his hands, "So I was pitifully locked out of the house, called Luca, and Luca said you might be here, so he told me to come and try my luck."

Nora shook her head gently, her eyes showing helplessness, "You could have called me."

Anson, "That wouldn't be fun, where could it be like now, surprise!"

While saying that, he raised his hands and made a surprised gesture.

Nora looked at her youngest son's sunny face, and after all, couldn't help but purse her thin lips into a beautiful arc, nodding gently, "Surprise, um, yes, it is indeed a surprise."

"Ah, let go of me, I have the flu, don't infect you, otherwise it will be troublesome next."

Half a beat late, the joy finally subsided, Nora quickly covered her mouth and took a step back.

Anson showed a little worry, "Catching a cold in summer, that's not very good."

Nora waved her hand, "It's okay, it's just the flu, several people around me have caught a cold, I was still wondering if I should get a flu shot, but I got it."

After only saying a few words, Nora looked at Anson again, carefully examining him, "You look thinner."

Anson couldn't believe his ears, he wasn't the one who was feeling unwell, "It's the same line every time we meet, I'm starting to doubt your eyes, believe me, I haven't."

Nora shook her head helplessly, "You're just naughty, what's wrong with my eyes, my eyes are fine."

"Don't need reading glasses?"

"Anson!"

Anson obediently shut his mouth and raised his hands in surrender, then turned his head to look at the painting hanging at the entrance with a well-behaved face, "How much is this one?"

Nora knew that Anson was deliberately changing the subject, quietly looking at him without saying a word.

As a result, Anson floated over a sentence, "I'm serious. Don't you see how serious I am? Guest, I am now a guest of the gallery."

Pfft.

Nora still couldn't help it, a smile bloomed, and she also started joking, "So, dear guest, is there anything I can help you with?"